


Sunflower

by Queerking



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:50:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19943452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queerking/pseuds/Queerking
Summary: Konoha only has one Jinchuriki. Kakashi has to manage.





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I would be writing this. I hope it's good and that you enjoy it. I tried to do as much research as I could, correct me if I've gotten something wrong.
> 
> I didn't have anyone to beta this, but if someone wants to in the future, I wouldn't turn you down.
> 
> I wrote this not as a fix-it, so most stuff stays canon, the only difference is Rin is alive and Iruka meets Kakashi earlier in life. I took some liberties writing wise, so some stuff you'll just have to roll with.

A strong wind blew around and shook the leaves in the trees. It felt dark and ominous. Hiruzen looked up to the sky, feeling uneasy. Only a few days ago did he send Nohara Rin and Hatake Kakashi on an A-Rank mission to Kiri for intel. About eight hours ago he received a letter from a small dog stating that Rin had been captured and Kakashi was in pursuit. 

He hoped everything was going okay with the rescue for the young girl. Kakashi was more than capable, but fate has not been kind to Kirigakure and it was only getting worse, especially with their struggle to find a new Mizukage. He could only just imagine the desperation the shinobi who kidnapped Nohara are going through and what lengths they'll see to that she's not rescued.

The wind suddenly persisted harshly, definitely not a good omen. It was only a matter of time before Minato was to receive the message to switch missions and to assist Kakashi in Kiri, so hopefully, it won't be too disastrous. 

Hiruzen was aware he was doing an awful lot of hoping. 

Eight hours was long enough. If something had gone wrong, the ANBU currently waiting on standby would want to know about it. He summoned her to where he was waiting on the roof and after a minute, she flickered behind him.

He didn't say anything, just handed her the note and waited. Like he predicted, she didn't wait for orders, she vanished without saying anything and he knew she was setting out for Kiri.

...

"Kakashi! Wait!" Rin yelled after him. 

There wasn't time to wait, their pursuers were closing in on them. They kept into a tree and one finally caught up and Kakashi clashed with him, kunai to kunai. He could hear Rin also engage in a fight with the other Kiri-nin. Knowing she was in no shape to fight, he knew he need to get them out of this fight and retreat as there was no way he could take on a whole group of hunters. 

A swift kick to the hunter-nin's sternum gave him enough time to quickly arm an explosive tag, sealed it to the trunk of the tree they were fighting on and flowed chakra into it, releasing it. With the sharingan, he located Rin through the smoke and darted for her, yelling a sharp, "Go!" 

They burst out of the smoke and onto the ground and continued their sprint. 

"Kakashi I can't return to the village!" Rin yelled to him. 

"What do you mean?" He asked, shocked. It was enough of a distraction, they stopped short of a rocky shore. The hunter-nin had them surrounded. They would have no choice but to fight. 

Kakashi fell into formation, back to back with Rin, kunai out, waiting for the right moment to release his chidori. Then Rin whispered to him, "I don't have a choice. Something awful will happen if I go back. Kakashi, I need you to kill me." 

Color drained from his face as he proceeded her request, "What you mean? I can't do that! I made a promise to Obito that I would protect you." 

They didn't get a chance to continue as they were both charged at by Kiri-nin. As he struck blows with the hunter, a thought occurred to him, forming into a plan. He needed to save as much energy as possible if they were going to survive, meaning he didn't have to use a fully powered attack, just one to incapacitate. He would have to control his chakra as much as possible. 

He let the hunter punch him in the face to lure him in, knocking Kakashi back, and as quick as possible, he tore through his hand seals and called out a curt, "Chidori!" and aimed his palm at his enemy, focusing hard on simply releasing the lightening and not cutting through the flesh. 

Although, he should have been watching Rin. He should have check that she was fighting back. His sharingan caught her movement too late. 

It all happened in a split second, but to him, it took eons. Rin looked at him, almost as startled with the decision as he was. And then electricity filled the air, and Rin opened her mouth, blood spilling out and she whispered, "Kakashi..." Her blood fell onto his hand.

The monument of what he just did hit him like a truck and tears ran out of his left eye, which was burning something fierce. 

Rin was dead. Shock overwhelmed him, there was a sudden intense heat surrounding him and everything went black.

...

He was sitting with Minato, exhausted from training. He felt incredibly dizzy. 

Minato spoke softly to him, "The jutsu is incomplete, you shouldn't use it. You move with it too fast to see your enemy. Kakashi? Kakashi?"

His vision swam and everything went dark. Someone was calling out to him. The voice was just now talking to him, but that voice shouldn't be here.

"...kashi! Kakashi!" 

He recognized that voice. Why was that voice with him? "Minato-sensei?" He asked weakly. "What are you doing here?"

"We were signaled to reroute our mission and to help you." Minato explained, his voice still worried. "What happened?" 

He struggled to open his eyes. When he did, he found his left eye was covered and Minato's bright hair filled his right one. They were surrounded by trees, ones that were familiar. They couldn't be back in Fire Country? Then, everything came rushing back at him, and he gasped, "Rin!" 

Minato was at his right side and put a firm hand on his shoulder, "She's alive."

Confusion and relief almost overwhelmed him. He was sure he killed her, for the distance the hunter was, it would have been a good stun to his body, but Rin had been way too close for it to mearly stun. She had put her heart in front of him.

"I'll admit, her heartbeat was incredibly weak when I found you. She's healed now. If you can, please tell me what happened." 

It was impossible to think as Kakashi had so many questions himself. He looked around and noticed they were in a small clearing, large trees surrounding them. He saw two older Konoha shinobi with them, one was a male medical-nin with ash blond hair, one he'd worked with before and remembered his name was Yuuto and the other was a female with white eyes, pinning her as a Hyuga clan member. 

His eye landed on Rin laying down on a bed roll. She looked peaceful. He was able to breath easy when he saw the rise in her chest as she breathed as well. It forced him to focus, she had been trying to tell him something earlier. 

"Rin was kidnapped by Kirigakure. When I found her she was adamant that we couldn't return to the village, she even asked me to kill her. I couldn't, which is why she was passed out. She was trying to kill herself on my chidori. I don't know why." 

Minato nodded, looking at Rin with concern, "We'll have to wait for her to wake up then." 

Kakashi sat up further and was startled at what he saw when he looked closer at Rin. In the center of her chest, a large hole in her shirt had been burned away to reveal what almost looked like someone had drawn a tree there. Except the base was a perfect circle burn mark. Nausea rolled through him and he struggled away from Minato, yanking his mask down and emptied his stomach. Not that there was much, he had been eating food pills for two days while trying to find Rin. 

The medical-nin quietly asked if he was okay. He wiped his mouth off and lifted his mask back into place, shaking his head no. 

"Are you sure?" Minato asked, his concern turned to him. Kakashi wished he wouldn't give him that look. It wasn't one he deserved. He wasn't able to protect Rin or Obito. What kind of friend was he? What kind of shinobi was he?

He gave a curt nod, "Yes." 

The concern still didn't go away, but Minato nodded anyways. Kakashi knew they would be talking about this later, like Obito all over again. 

"What happened after Rin?" Minato asked instead of pushing.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked. 

"I was able to get to you two once I was close enough with that kunai I gave you. I found you guys passed out surrounded by Kiri-nin." Minato explained. "Then I was able to bring you here."

It only furthered Kakashi's confusion, "Yeah, we were surrounded, they were trying to capture us. Rin and I passed out when she tried to kill herself." 

This shocked Minato, "I meant they were dead. Someone or some thing practically slaughtered them."

Startled didn't even cover what Kakashi felt at hearing that. A chill swept through him. He shook his head, "I don't know what happened to them. A traitor? A third party?" 

Minato looked back to Rin, his gaze pensive. "Whatever it was must have assumed you two were dead." Kakashi nodded, agreeing. 

It was horrifying to think about. His sharingan counted out how many enemies there were, what could have possibly happened? Another detail bugged him while thinking about that. Most of them were Kiri ANBU hunter class, and the rest were jonin. What did Rin do or have that could have warranted that kind of attention? She's an excellent healer, having proved that with his eye. Not many medical-nin are able to do field surgery, according to Rin. It's incredibly risky, it takes a lot of chakra and control. When she told him this, he felt incredibly lucky that the only complication was that he couldn't turn off the sharingan.

Perhaps there was a surgery that they found only she was capable of? But why would that threaten the village upon her return? 

A headache started to bloom while trying to figure this out and he was only coming up with more questions than answers. They truly did just have to wait until Rin woke up and tell them what happened. 

Suddenly, Rin convulsed, gasping in pain. Minato and Kakashi yelled her name at the same time, but it didn't seem to reach her. She sat up and clutched at her chest in pain, breathing way too fast, her eyes flying open. Minato moved closer, laying a soothing hand on her back, quietly talking to her. Kakashi was frozen, unable to think of what to do. He didn't know what was causing this and he had no idea how to comfort her, especially after shocking and burning her. 

Rin had seemed to gain a little bit of consciousness and wasn't able to talk quietly like Minato and her next words were bone chilling, for everyone to hear.

"Seal the Sanbi."

He felt a sickening horror at those words. She couldn't possibly mean that those Kiri-nin made her a Jinchuriki? Like Kushina? Even as he fought the idea, her words from earlier made a little more sense. She wanted to protect the village from Sanbi escaping. That's why she tried to die. 

Then the words start to really hit him. She said to seal it.

The concept of being a Jinchuriki was simple. Someone with significant chakra would have a tailed beast sealed within them. Somehow, whatever seal Kiri put on Rin, was broken, or they didn't complete it.

"Byakugan!" The Hyuga next to him came to the same conclusion he did, it seemed. She gasped, "Minato, her chakra is out of control, the Sanbi could escape at any minute!" 

"Kakashi!" Minato yelled for him, as he picked up Rin, who let out a scream. He rushed to them and had Rin shoved into his arms. Minato then bit into his thumb and summoned what looked like an alter. It had a pillow in the center, surrounded by eight lit candles. Then he assumed a position and Kakashi could feel him gather up a large amount of chakra. Without needing to be told, Kakashi quickly placed Rin onto the pillow and backed away. Finally, he was thinking clearly enough to be useful. 

"Oi!" He got the other's attention and started to bark orders for a protection formation. Usually older jonin visibly disliked it when he gave them orders, but these two understood the need. This was not the time for prejudice. 

"Minato-san!"

He looked over and saw an ANBU jump from a tree to join them in the clearing. The only thing he could discern was that she was a woman with long blonde hair, worn in a ponytail. He noticed she was taking in the scene before her and her masked face landed on Rin. 

"ANBU-san, I need your help!" Kakashi yelled to her.

For a moment, the ANBU didn't move, as she stared at Rin, who was making pained noises, hopefully trying to suppress the Sanbi. She was most likely trying to figure out what was happening. Then, she nodded and looked to him for instructions.

Kakashi nodded back, determination set. He looked back at his comrades and addressed them again. "Hyuga, I need you to keep a look out for any enemies in the area, stay close to Rin, but do not get in the way. Yuuto, stay close by Minato-sensei. You know what to do, avoid combat unless it's absolutely necessary. The ANBU and I will stand ready for any threats. Go!" They dispersed into action, ready for any incoming threats. 

Finally, he heard Minato walk towards Rin. After a minute, he heard him mutter and chakra being released. Then, Rin let out a piercing scream that was choked off in a gasp and Kakashi couldn't help but turn to look. Rin was curled in on herself as Minato was kneeling down before her and had his hand thrust into her stomach. Soon, seal lines appeared on her skin, and Minato muttered something else to her. 

Rin nodded and, with great effort, forced herself to lay flat on her back with her arms above her head. While she didn't look comfortable, it seemed to lessen her pain. Especially when another layer of seals appeared, aligning with the others, along with a swirled seal forming under Minato's palm. When he twisted his hand, the seal flared white briefly and then turned back into black. As he moved her shirt back down and picked her up, Kakashi knew it was done. The alter disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Minato turned to Yuuto, who had been kneeling next to them, "She undoubtedly strained many muscles. Please look her over and heal her." Yuuto nodded, took her and put her back on the bed roll to start healing her. Minato then got up and went over to the ANBU, who still hadn't relaxed from her position.

"We don't know why or how, but Kiri kidnapped Nohara Rin and made her a Jinchuriki of the Sanbi." Minato told her gravely, crossing his arms.

The ANBU visibly jerked her head at the news. Kakashi could understand, it was incredibly shocking news.

"For some reason there was no seal containing the Sanbi, which is what I just corrected. We won't know what happened until Rin is able to tell us and right now, we need to allow her to heal enough to get her back to the village." Minato looked at her seriously, "We need to talk with the Hokage and we absolutely cannot be seen." She nodded and went back to looking out for any threats.

"I don't want you to strain your eyes Yui." Minato smiled over at the Hyuga who was still looking out for enemies. "You can take a break for now. We'll need a lookout when we leave for the village. It's imperative we're not to be seen." 

Yui nodded and the veins that always appeared with the use of a Byakugan shrank away, though she did not sit down. Kakashi could tell she was still on alert and he couldn't blame her. With all the screaming Rin did, there was a large chance they would be pursued by curious parties. 

Without realizing it, Minato was suddenly very close to him and had a comforting hand on top of his head. He did the same thing when he visited Kakashi after Obito died. It was moments like this when he remembered how tall Minato was and how short he himself was. That he was only thirteen years old and his teacher was twenty four. There are kids his age who are still in the academy to become genin. Somehow he was so old and yet still so young. 

They wouldn't talk. Not yet. Minato knew he wasn't about to talk about his feelings, especially when other shinobi were around to see him so weak. A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Rin sternly reminded him to feel wasn't to be weak. He still didn't know if he was able to agree with that since he certainly felt weak. 

Just as guilt was starting to gnaw at him for everything that happened to Rin, Minato began to talk in a hushed tone, "We're not really supposed to have two Jinchuriki. The other hidden villages were offered the other Biju to balance power. Since the Kyuubi is said to be the strongest of them all, we don't need two." 

Kakashi then understood the absolute need for secrecy. It could start another war between the nations if they found out that Konoha had two Biju. The minute they enter the village, they will exceed in power. 

"However," Minato continued, even more quiet, "that seal style is called Hakke no Fuin Shiki. When two Shisho Fuin are used together, they form the Hakke no Fuin Shiki. To be able to be a true jinchuriki that would use it's power, I would leave an opening at the space where the two four symbols seals met, allowing the Sanbi's chakra to mix with Rin's own."

Startled by this information, Kakashi interjected, keeping his voice low, "But we don't even know if Rin could handle that. You told me yourself that Kushina-san has special chakra that contains the Kyuubi along with her seal." 

Minato removed his hand hand from Kakashi's head and smiled softly down at him, "I know. Since we don't know if Rin could handle it or if we actually want to use that kind of power, I kept the seals aligned. She won't be effected by the Sanbi's chakra. We won't do anything further until we talk with the Sandaime."

Sightly satisfied and relieved to hear this, Kakashi relaxed a little. None of it was a good fate, truth be told, but at least she wasn't going to be caused grief by the Sanbi itself. 

"Minato-san." Yuuto called over. They both looked back as he waved them over. He continued when they neared, "I'm afraid this is all I can do. She'll just need to rest and drink water. Regularly, I would say we need to stay put at least a few hours, but considering the circumstances..." 

"She's in more danger resting here." Minato finished. 

The ANBU stood, "I'll carry her. I know the secret passages to get her to the Hokage safely and without being seen." Her voice was low, perhaps she was older, Kakashi mused.

But Minato shook his head, "You can carry her, but we need to stick together. I can't risk sending Yui-san with you and leaving us to worry about being seen. We're all at risk now, we all know too much. Besides, we're not going to his office. We're going to a special location, so you'll have to follow me." 

She nodded, probably knowing that what he said was true. It was too risky to go to straight to his office. Kakashi knew his teacher already had this all planned out the minute he learned about Rin. 

"There's no use it wasting time then." Kakashi said as he lifted his hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan. "Let's go." 

The ANBU picked up Rin as if she weighed nothing. Minato looked to Yui, who nodded, looked ahead and said fiercely, "Byakugan!" The veins appeared around her eyes once again.

Minato and Yui took the lead as they ran, the ANBU carrying Rin in the middle, with Yuuto and Kakashi at the rear. They stuck relatively close in formation and traveled amongst the tree branches. He heard the ANBU mutter something and realized Rin must have at least partially woken up and was curious about what was happening.

They only made two detours to avoid patrolling konoha shinobi and camping travelers. At one point, Kakashi started noticing familiar markers that noted they were getting closer to the village. They strayed from the markers after a minute, leading them to an area where the trees grew only more enormous, like the ones that grow in the fourty fourth training ground. Luckily, Minato didn't lead them that far into it. The Forest of Death was a controlled environment, this place obviously was not, if the giant animal trail marks were anything to go on. 

Minato led them to one of the trees that had a particularly large knot growing on it. He threw a kunai attached to wire at the knot and something clicked. Then he turned to the group, "The stairs will lead you to the hideout. Go down there and wait for me. I will go and get the Hokage, it'll only take a couple of minutes." 

Everyone nodded, knowing that if anyone could truly do that, it was Minato. Back during the war, it took Kakashi a minute to figure out how he was able to move around so quickly, how he earned the name Yellow Flash. 

Minato pushed open a hidden door at the base of the tree and then stood back to let everyone in. Kakashi was the last to go and saw that a spiraling staircase was on the inside. He turned back to face Minato, who smiled at him. 

"I'll be right back. We'll work it out. Everything will be fine." Minato assured him. 

Kakashi felt pretty hopeless, despite knowing the secrets behind the seal. He looked up at his teacher, "How do you know?"

Minato shrugged, "Because I believe in you and Rin." Impossibly, hope bloomed in him at those words. Seeming satisfied, Minato nodded, "Close the door once you're inside." 

Kakashi nodded and went inside, pushing the door closed behind him. He heard the door latch, locking them in. Noticing how dark it was, he rummaged through his pouch and took out a glow stick, cracking it. Light shone in his hand and he carefully hurried down to catch up with the others. 

...

Just as Yuuto was done wrapping Rin's chest with bandages, Minato appeared out of thin air with the Hokage. Kakashi had already noted the old kunai with the seal on the ceiling, marking it a place where Minato could jump to. He also noticed that the Hokage wasn't wearing his robes, just regular shinobi clothes with mesh armor underneath.

Rin was awake now, but seemed incredibly exhausted. Yuuto had already suggested many times that she could sleep, but Rin resolutely refused every time. She stated that if she fell asleep now, she was afraid she would never wake up. There was no humor in her voice. Kakashi figured it had to do with the Sanbi. Perhaps something happened between them while Rin was unconscious. 

They all decided to wait until the Sandaime arrived to start asking questions. Now that he was here, everyone looked to Rin, where she was sat on the bed between Kakashi and where Minato walked over to sit.

"Minato-sensei informs me that you've been through a great ordeal Nohara-san."

Rin took a deep breath, "Yes, Sandaime-sama. While on a mission with Kakashi, I was taken by four Kiri-nin." 

"Why did they take you?" 

"To make me a Jinchuriki, hoping to release the Sanbi once I was in konoha." Rin answered, her voice surprisingly strong despite giving such horrible news.

"What exactly happened?" The Hokage asked gently.

For a moment Rin looked down, collecting her thoughts. When she was ready, she looked back up, "They took me to a lake. One of them summoned a large urn that was littered with seals. There was a Kiri-nin that had seal formulas on his chest and a chain emerged from it when released. The chain pierced straight through the urn and extracted an enormous amount of chakra that bared the resemblance of Isobu." 

The Hokage only looked more interested upon hearing the Sanbi's name, rather than startled like everyone else. "Isobu, eh?" 

Rin nodded, "I'll get to that, but yes. He told me his name." With a gesture from the Hokage to continue Rin moved on, "I'll admit, I started to black out for parts, but what I can tell you is that they sealed only part of it in me. The other half is still in that urn. I even think the shinobi casting the fuinjutsu died. After I finally passed out I met him, Isobu, in my subconscious."

For a moment, Rin paused and looked down. To Kakashi's horror, tears welled up in Rin's eyes. Panic hit him as he again had no idea what to do. He was saved by Minato, who smiled at her encouragingly. Rin looked over and gave him watery smile, then looked back to the Hokage.

"He told me they sealed him to my heart, so they could control me and him. When I woke up, Kakashi had found me. I was barely able to process everything, but eventually I realized their plan. I tried to neutralize myself, but I seem to have failed. I'm not entirely sure what happened afterwards." 

A memory pushes forward and realization suddenly struck Kakashi, "I know what happened!" All eyes fell on him.

"Do tell." The Hokage nodded to him.

Kakashi launched into the second half of the story, going through it like he would a report. Even though the massacre was still a mystery to them all, he was nearly positive about this, and all he needed was Rin to confirm this. 

When he got to that part, Kakashi looked eagerly at his friend, "Rin, is it true that if you receive an electric shock it can stop your heart?" It's the most basic medical training they receive as genin. If your team mates were to drown or go into cardiac arrest, they needed to learn how to save them. 

Looking at him owlishly, Rin nodded slowly, "Um - yes. It's called sudden cardiac arrest. You don't die immediately, you have four to five minutes to save your patient. In some miracle cases I've read about medical-nin pushing it to eight minutes." Kakashi nodded frantically.

"It's a theory, but since you're still alive I can't think of why this wouldn't be the case. I think I accidentally stopped your heart. In between that frame of time, I think the Sanbi, er, Isobu," Kakashi corrected himself when Rin glanced at him, "healed you and saved your life. After all, he would die too if you did." 

"That makes sense, I suppose." The Sandaime commended. "What lead to this conclusion?" 

"Well, two reasons." Kakashi explained, "Minato-sensei was talking about about the seal he placed on Rin. If the seal that the Kiri-nin placed was broken after her heart stopped, Isobu's chakra would also be released to mix with Rin's own, inevitably healing her." 

"And the second reason?" The Sandaime prompted him. 

Trying hard to not dwell on the traumatic bits, Kakashi continued, "I remembered something when I passed out. I thought it was just Rin falling on me because I felt incredibly warm, but it definitely felt like steam."

"Chakra release." Minato muttered.

"Exactly." 

"Is there any way to confirm this, Nohara-san?" The Sandaime asked. 

Rin looked away, reluctance plain on her face, "I'm not sure why, but I'm not really able to speak with Isobu right now." 

"Ah, maybe I can explain, your seal might be preventing that." Minato smiled at her, scratching the back of his head. The story was then continued as Minato explained the seal that currently binded Isobu to Rin. After he caught up to their leaving, he grew somber, "I have to say, this isn't going to be easy. First, there is no way to remove him without your death." 

Rin didn't say anything and it crossed Kakashi's mind that she probably already knew this. 

Minato continued, "And if he chooses to do so, he could probably fray at the seal, over time. No jutsu is perfect, there's always a weakness. So you have the option to harness his power or to have a key prepared to strengthen the seal over time. Although, it's ultimately up to you, Sandaime-sama." Minato glanced at the Hokage. 

The Sandaime looked grim as he contemplated this information. It was certainly a risk to have two Jinchuriki, especially if one of them wasn't strong enough to handle it's great power. He had to do what was good for the village. Finally he spoke after a couple of minutes, "Minato, what would you do?" 

Clearly thrown off guard by being asked, Minato hesitated before answering, "Ah well. It would be interesting to see if Rin could handle Isobu's power." For a moment he paused, gathering his thoughts further. "I don't think it would be wise to broadcast something like this. I think, if she's willing to train for it, her power would only be used if the village was in truly grave danger. I think she could make a vital difference, medically wise, with that kind of chakra." 

Kakashi realized his teacher was trying to think like a Hokage because that's truly what the Sandaime was asking for, to see if he could work around difficult situations like this, even if it concerned his student, maybe because it specifically involved his student. And it seemed like the Hokage approved. 

"Well, Nohara-san? What would you like to do?" The Sandaime asked kindly. It seemed like he genuinely wanted to know. 

Rin looked to Minato, who gave her a soft smile. Then she directed that gaze at himself. Honestly, Kakashi had no idea what to offer her because he had no idea what the right answer was. Why was she looking to him anyways? After everything with Obito, how could he be trusted to give any useful advice? 

Then, Minato's words came back to him from earlier outside the tree. He believed in him and Rin. 

She wasn't looking for advice, Kakashi realized. It was for support. Knowing what to do, he laid a hand on her shoulder and quietly said, "I believe in you." 

To his embarrassment, Rin blushed and smiled at him, looking between the Sandaime and Minato. "It won't be easy, but I'll do anything to protect the village and my friends. I would like to become a true jinchuriki." 

The Hokage smiled, pleased with her loyalty, but it didn't last as he began to speak, "Unfortunately, since this will be kept a secret, the easiest way to do that is to pronounce you dead, especially when Kiri suspects that to be the case already. We can arrange something for your immediate family and everyone here, but we cannot risk word getting out. I'm not really at liberty to say, but the Tsuchikage would love to turn the other villages against us over this." 

For some reason, this option had never occurred to him. And the decision had to be now because it was a good opportunity. 

She could back out now and have the Sanbi locked away forever, continue her life and then taking him with her in death. Or train hard to become an asset in the shadows to help the village.

This didn't stop Rin however, she ploughed on, "I accept." 

Kakashi felt immediately drained. Even though Rin didn't die, he saved her only to have to endure this mess. A life of near solitude, trapped with a Biju? What exactly had he saved her from? 

"I've been gone for nearly too long now, so I must go. But I must warn each and every one of you." The Hokage looked at everyone individually for a moment, "No matter where your loyalties lie, it's in everyone's best interest to not reveal tonight's events." 

It was incredibly cryptic, catching Kakashi off guard. What did that even mean? Did he figure someone in this room would defect and become a traitor? 

Regardless, everyone murmured their agreement. 

"I'll leave you now to plan forward. I'll begin making arrangements on my end." The Hokage turned to Minato, who nodded and they flickered away. 

A long stretch of silence followed their absence until finally Rin asked, "What do you think he meant by our loyalty?" She sounded troubled. 

Yui gave a deep sigh from where she stood to their right, though her tone was gentle, "You're all still a little young to experience politics within the village." 

"What does that mean?" Rin asked. 

Instead, Yuuto answered, his tone more grave, "Sometimes choices that the leaders make can cost people their lives. Loyalty can shift depending on those choices and those lives. The search for power can as well. The older you get, you're bound to personally know at least one missing-nin." 

"All shinobi endure incredible burdens." Yui said, not looking at any of them. "We're all at risk of becoming missing-nin." 

Somehow, he never thought about that. All he's ever known is that his village needed him, he had the skills to protect it, and the leaders used their tact and wisdom to tell him what to do. 

But he could see how easy it would be to blame the Hokage for his troubles. If they hadn't been sent on the bridge mission, maybe Obito would still be alive. If he and Rin hadn't been sent on this mission to Kiri, she wouldn't have been made a Jinchuriki.

Except rational thought prevented him from blaming the Hokage. Kiri still planned on doing this, they would have just taken a different Konoha shinobi at a different time. They knew the risks going on the Kanabi Bridge mission, going into war. It was his fault that Obito died, not the Hokage's. 

They were shinobi, they made their choices knowing the risks. 

Just then, Minato flickered back before them. Everyone looked to him, ready for whatever was next. "It's almost dawn. Soon, the village will be awake and it'll be an opportunity to walk Rin through the village to show everyone she died. Rin, I'll need you to make a clone that can practically be dead without disappearing." 

Rin nodded, "I can do that."

"Kakashi, I'll need you to send a dog ahead to notify the Hokage that Rin has died. He'll send word to her parents. ANBU-san, Hokage-sama and I have deemed you fit to take her parents and only them where Rin will be staying permanently. The clan cannot know." 

He and the ANBU nodded, accepting their new mission. 

"We will be traveling 3.3 kilometers from the nearest outpost from the southeast to be seen by Konoha lookouts. Yui, we'll need you to navigate again. When we get there I'll need you, Yuuto, to handle the medical report and the body." 

They both nodded their ascent.

Minato sighed, and Kakashi began to see how tired his teacher was becoming. There probably wasn't a protocol to prepare you for faking your student's death. Nevertheless, Minato continued his orders.

"This is where it gets difficult." He looked to Rin, "Obviously, I can't expect you to hold a clone for the three hours it'll take us to get back to the village. For the lookout, I'll create one. Then for the last hour I'll need one from you." 

Rin looked confused, "How will that work?" 

"I'll be teleporting you to your new quarters. After the two hour mark, when Yui clears us, I can teleport back to you, take your clone and make the switch. Can you do that?" 

She nodded, "Yes." 

Kakashi knew she would be pushing herself. It's not actually easy to hold a clone for an hour, since it drained chakra. He knew even Minato was pushing his limits with a clone, a henge, and transportation. 

"Then it's settled. Rin, I'll take you now." 

Logically, Kakashi knew she wasn't dead or going away forever. But as Rin turned to him, he knew that their time together was going to be extremely limited. She was his closest friend and after this, he would be alone again. By her watery smile, he knew she was thinking the same thing. When she threw her arms around him, he still felt awkward, but firmly hugged her back. 

"I'll see you soon." He whispered. 

She pulled back and whispered, "I'll be waiting." 

They parted ways and their new mission began. 

...

Even though Kakashi knew that the Rin Minato carried in his arms was a clone, it was still extremely hard to walk towards the village gate. 

Rin did a good job with the clone. She looked vulnerable, lifeless, and like she had just had the beating of her life. This one did not have bandages covering the burn and tree like scars Kakashi caused. Minato, albeit regretfully, suggested that part. The flames that were rumors needed to be fanned by what people saw. 

Kakashi could hear it now. Someone wishpering to their friends, "Did you hear about that girl from the Nohara clan? She was killed on her mission." "Yeah I saw the wounds myself! Poor girl." 

He didn't actually prepare for what he would really face be facing when they reached the gate. A wave of guilt hit him when he heard Maito Gai yell, "Yo, Kakashi!" 

It's pretty common for other teams to arrive back at their missions around the same time as each other and mingle to catch up, especially now as there was still cleanup for the war. He'd forgot to pray that their friends would not be here to witness this. Not for something like this.

The sadness and guilt Kakashi was exuding was not faked. Not being able to look at any of their friends in the eye was real. Even if they knew the truth, these people still would have lost their friend. It cut deep as he heard some of them cry and even deeper at the ones who were dead silent as they solemnly went to the hospital. 

They stopped at the gate and Yui walked ahead of them away from the gate. "I'm going to go make my report to the Hokage." She respectfully bowed, "I'm deeply sorry for your loss, Minato-san, Hatake-san." 

Minato nodded at her, "Thank you, Yui-san." 

Kakashi nodded and gave a stiff "Thank you" and proceed towards the hospital, where he knew they would be facing Rin's parents soon. 

Dread built up in him when he thought about their next steps in this plan. Yuuto had told them on their journey back that it's not usually normal for a field medical-nin to take care of bodies unless there needed to be an autopsy or there was no other choice. Otherwise he makes his reports to the hospital head and restocks his supplies after a mission. Minato suggested that Kakashi could provide a reason for Yuuto to take care of things.

They went downstairs and into a room. There, Kakashi recognized Rin's parents, vaguely. Her mom had similar face marks, except hers framed her eyes. Eyes that were red and puffy from crying. 

Then there were the other two medical-nin, standing solemnly to the side. 

Quietly, one of them spoke, "Thank you for your work. You can leave her here." 

"Get out." Kakashi bit out. 

The medical-nin looked startled, "What?" 

"Get out!" Kakashi yelled, more fierce.

"Kakashi? Please, they need to-" Minato started but was interrupted. 

"I don't give a damn about what they need to do!” Kakashi slammed his fist on the wall. "She's my friend and I'm not ready for this! You can't take her from me, not yet!" 

Everyone looked at him in stunned silence. Then Yuuto sighed, "It's fine. I'll take care of this." 

The medical-nin who didn't speak didn't need telling twice as he left quickly, but the other hesitated and asked, "Are you sure?" 

Yuuto gave a small smile, "Yes, it'll be fine, I don't mind." 

Still wary of Kakashi, he left, closing the door behind him. Finally able to relax, Kakashi backed into the wall and slid down to sit. "Sorry about that. They needed to leave." He offered, his voice tired. 

"I'm sorry?" Rin's father asked, his voice tense.

Minato set the clone down on the table, "You can go now." The clone had enough mental capacity to at least process that and disappeared with a puff of smoke. Which meant that Rin would know at least everything it heard. 

"My student only had the outburst because we needed this area to be completely secure." Minato told them. 

The other man nodded, "We received word from the Sandaime that something terrible had happened to Rin. Is she actually dead?" 

Minato shook his head and began the story. Kakashi watched as Rin's parents went from worried to outright panicked when his teacher revealed their only daughter that she was a jinchuriki. They looked less alarmed when the whole plan was explained, though they didn't look less troubled. He could understand that. When your kid becomes a shinobi, you know that they could get injured or die, but not this. This is probably the last thing they ever expected. 

"Can we go see her?" Her mother asked.

"Soon. Unfortunately there still needs to be a preparations for the body. It's really only in cases where the child is an orphan where we take care of it. The Hokage suggested cremation because it's pretty standard of shinobi, but also so there wouldn't be a body to dig up." Minato explained. 

Her parents both nodded, looking very tired. 

"We'll talk more later. I have to go make my report about my other mission and make sure my other student gets home okay." Minato looked to him and with a great deal of effort, Kakashi stood up. Briefly, his vision went dark and his head pounded in pain. Going towards the door, he knew his teacher was worried about him. 

Luckily, the trip to his apartment was quiet and uneventful. 

However, when they reached his door, Minato had once again placed his hand on Kakashi's head. Memories of his father doing the same thing passed through his mind and Kakashi didn't dismiss them. Ever since Obito's declaration and proof of how wrong Kakashi's way was, he'd begun to try to embrace the memory of his father, rather than reject it.

But that didn't mean talking it out was a good option. Every time he thought about it, shame overwhelmed him and he couldn't bare to see Minato disappointed in him. Or Rin when she also tried to talk with him in the past. 

"Thank you for your help, Minato-sensei." Kakashi said while opening the door and going inside, Minato's hand fall from it's spot. 

"Kakashi." Minato said softly. Kakashi turned to him, expecting at least a small talking to. And Minato must have prepared for it, but his expression shifted from worried teacher to something softer and said, "Come join Kushina and I for dinner tomorrow. I'm making Miso soup and tempura." 

It had been a while since they'd eaten together. Minato had invited the team out for dinner at least once a month, back when the team was still whole. The last time was after a particularly grueling mission and Minato had invited them to his home instead. It was nice. Or as nice as it could've been, Kushina and Obito both being incredibly boisterous people. 

Slowly, Kakashi nodded, "Sure." 

Minato looked pleased, "Good. We have to report tomorrow morning and brief with Rin. The Hokage wants to talk to you about her. Goodnight." 

"Goodnight, Minato-sensei." Kakashi turned and shut the door, toed off his shoes and walked to his closet to take out his futon. He didn't bother doing anything else, the events of past couple of days and his near constant chakra use had completely exhausted him. 

Blissfully, Kakashi slept without dreaming.

...

Kakashi and Minato kneeled before the Hokage in his office, the sun just barely up. First Kakashi made his report on the first mission with Rin about the intel and then moved onto the kidnapping, leaving out the Jinchuriki part and Rin's survival. Guilt twinged at him when Minato reported that his team did as directed to assist in helping him. He knew that the mission Minato had taken was to capture a dangerous missing-nin from Suna. The rogue had entered into Fire Country to collect something and was trying to escape to Iwa. 

"I've received word from the team I sent to replace yours, the mission was a success." The Hokage informed them. "They told me that the information you uncovered before you left was incredibly valuable and they send their gratitude." 

That at least eased Kakashi's mind a little. Minato continued his report about the rescue and confirmed Yuuto's assessment that Rin was pronounced dead and also confirm Yui's report. 

The Sandaime nodded and took a large pull on his pipe, "The loss of a comrade is extremely unfortunate. I'm sorry for your loss." 

Quietly, they both thanked him. He realized he would be getting that a lot soon. 

"But we must continue to work." The Sandaime carried on. "Kakashi, there's a special mission I want you to take, starting tomorrow. Do as instructed." He passed over a scroll that Kakashi took from him. "Minato, I have another mission for you. Come back tomorrow and we will discuss it. Dismissed."

As soon as they left his office Kakashi unsealed his scroll and began to read. He was to report to the ANBU immediately, bring Minato, and address that they needed to talk to someone in a dog mask. Now that he really thought about it, the ANBU that assisted them wore a dog mask. He had a feeling that this would have to do with Rin, otherwise the Hokage would've just told them outright.

"Apparently I have to work with an ANBU tomorrow. Can you show me their head quarters, Minato-sensei?" Kakashi lied. He knew very well where that was. There were two entrances, one in this building and the other somewhere far away.

Minato looked at the scroll and nodded. They walked further into the building, well under ground and through several hallways. Soon enough, they walked up the foreman hiding in the shadows behind the window with bars on it. 

"I have business with a ANBU in a dog mask." He passed over the scroll through the slot. After a minute, the ANBU flickered into their sight, her blonde hair in a braid this time. 

"Come with me." 

After a very long underground trail, they finally started to go upwards on a spiral staircase, like the one in Minato's hideout. When they reached the top platform, there was a sliding door built against the wall. When the ANBU knocked on it, Rin answered the door. 

She was wearing a more casual outfit, navy blue pants and shirt. Though she still looked tired, it wasn't as bad as before. Kakashi could see the ends of her scars peak out of her shirt collar. 

"What's going on?" She asked, surprised to see them. "Oh, forgive me, come in." 

Following the ANBU's lead, they removed their shoes and sat down at the table in front of her small couch. Looking around, he could see it was Rin's new home. Paper seals were placed in crucial spots all over. With the view from the window, Kakashi wondered if they really were in a tree. But then he recognized the arches from the Hokage Mansion in front of them and realized they must be in one of those small buildings on the Hokage rock. It was indeed small, but it wasn't like Rin really needed much. 

"Since this is all confidential, I don't need to hide who I am." The ANBU started. She took off her mask, revealing the slight aging around her blue eyes. "I wouldn't be able to hide it anyways after this meeting. I'm Yamanaka Junko. You can just call me Junko."

Minato smiled at her, "I'm not surprised, Junko. It's nice to see you again."

"You two know each other?" Rin asked, taking a more relaxed position on the floor.

Minato nodded, "We've been on a few missions together. But I graduated the same year as her cousin, Inoichi. Maybe you've heard of him?" 

That was laughable, of course they'd heard of him. Inoichi was the newest head of the Yamanaka clan and was part of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. 

Rin looked at Junko, impressed, "Yamanaka and black ops? That's amazing."

Junko chuckled, scratching the back of her head, "You flatter me, Rin-san." 

"So, why were we summoned here?" Minato asked.

"I was told that for now on, Hatake Kakashi would be training Nohara Rin." Junko said. "It's up to you, Minato, if you want to help when you can, but since your team is officially disbanded, you will be taking more missions, assisting other teams and solo ones." 

It was shocking, to say the least. Kakashi never figured he would be teaching someone. Jonin Sensei never interested him or teaching at the academy. Not even having children of his own and passing down his legacy seemed like a desirable option. 

Junko continued, oblivious to his struggle to accept the news, "You will meet in the private training sector twice a month. Mori Yuuto will also be continuing to train Nohara-san between that time."

"Shouldn't Tsunade-sama be called for such a task?" Minato asked. That hadn't occurred to him, but honestly it made sense. She was one of the legendary Sannin, specialized in healing. 

Junko chuckled, "The Sandaime sent word to her yesterday. She sent back a rigged ink scroll with a firm refusal. It's not the first time he's asked, you see." 

Minato winced, "That's too bad. Yuuto is a very capable jonin medical-nin, he'll be a fine teacher. But you'll have to strive beyond what he teaches you as well." 

Rin nodded very seriously. She then looked at Kakashi, smiling excitedly, "I can't wait for our first lesson, Kakashi-sensei!" 

Thankfully, his mask covered most of his blush, though he stuttered a bit, "No need to call me that. Just Kakashi." 

Junko and Minato laughed at them, but after a minute Junko grew serious. "Unfortunately this is one of the more difficult parts of this meeting. To begin her training, the seal will have to become unaligned, allowing Isobu's chakra to mix with hers. The Sandaime wanted that to happen at this meeting." 

Confused and concerned, Kakashi spoke up, "What if something goes wrong? We can't help her alone." 

Junko waved a hand, "Even though they don't know why, ANBU are stationed around us." She smirked at him, "Plus, have a little faith in Minato. He didn't gain a reputation for nothing." 

It was Minato's turn to blush, though he smiled regardless, "Well let's get started. It'll be very simple. I need to see your stomach and for you to build up some chakra." 

It seemed as though Rin was determined not to be embarrassed when they both got up and she did as she was told. Even though Kakashi wanted to look away and give her some privacy, he needed to do his duty and remain vigilant. A moment passed and then the seal formula appeared on her stomach. Kakashi then noticed Minato was also building chakra, but differently. 

He had his right hand held out in front of him and slowly, chakra engulfed his finger tips. In kanji, earth, water, fire, wind, and lightening formed within the chakra on each finger. "My apologies for what's next. Arms above your head." When she complied, he whispered "Gogyo, Kaiin" and thrust his hand into the seal. It was as startling as the first time, when he first did the seal. Again, the wind was knocked out of her and she made a pained noise as Minato shifted his hand to the left slightly. When he pulled his hand away, Kakashi noticed that the lines of the swirl were a bit broader before the formula disappeared again.

"Are you alright?" Minato asked her, catching her lightly before gently lowering down to the floor to sit down. 

After a gasp of pain, Rin smiled weakly up at him, "I need you to change your definition of simple, Sensei." 

Chuckling, Minato nodded, "I'm sorry about that. There's no good way to prepare for that particular jutsu." 

"So, can you feel him? Isobu?" Junko asked.

Taking a deep breath, Rin closed her eyes. A beat passed and she opened them again, "Yes, I can feel him." 

"That's good." Minato said, sounding relieved. He moved away and sat back next to Kakashi, letting out a big sigh. Although, he did not relax, forming a series of hand signs, specifically signs for his toad summoning. Kakashi didn't dislike the toads, but they were definitely brash and hard to talk to, he's argued with enough of them to know. Minato wasn't able to hide his disappointment when none of his students showed interest in summoning frogs.

The toad he summoned was of the smaller ones Kakashi has seen his teacher summon, as well as light blue with black accents and rings around it's stomach. "Oh, Minato! Long time, no see." He said from where he was floating, his voice airy. He seemed friendly enough. 

"it's good to see you, Gerotama." Minato greeted him. "I need a favor." He pointed at Rin, "My student is now a Jinchuriki. I sealed the Sanbi within her and I would like to make a key."

Gerotama glanced at Rin and grinned, "A Jinchuriki, eh? That's a first for me. You're sure you don't want to talk to Gerotora? He's more critical than me, probably something you'd want with a Biju."

Minato waved a hand, "You'll be fine. Plus, I think he's busy with Jiraiya-sensei right now."

"You're the boss. Let's get on with it." Gerotama shrugged, then clapped his hands together and the rings on his stomach expanded to make him taller, patterned with circles that resembled glass balls. His name made more sense. He also looked like a scroll. Then, as he unraveled, Kakashi realized that the toad really was a scroll.

Like from the previous night, Minato stood and preformed the fuinjutsu and it was formulated onto the scroll part of Gerotama. A box appeared this time, usually a space where you would make a contract agreement.

"Perhaps you were right to summon me. I am smaller than Gerotora, I might be an easier fit." Gerotama chuckled coyly.

Rin looked between them, confused, "What does that mean?"

Nervously, Minato smiled at Rin, "We can avoid it for now, but unfortunately there's no way around it. Gerotama will have to be swallowed inside you at some point."

"What?!" Rin gasped, disgusted. "What do you mean?!" Kakashi was also put off by the news, but he figured there had to be something to this method.

"This key will help you in the future. It'll allow you to control the chakra of the Sanbi. With training, we can open and close the seal whenever." Minato explained seriously. 

His seriousness didn't get rid of Rin's anxiety though, "But why would I have to swallow him inside me?"

"When the time comes, you would be able to have the key on hand without my needing to summon him. Which is another reason he's here, I won't be around forever."

A harsh chill spiked within Kakashi when thinking about such a thing. He's lost so many people already, the thought of losing his teacher too was unbearable. Except, this was the reality. Shinobi die protecting the village and the land. It's ridiculous to expect everyone to come out alive, especially when the war isn't quite over yet.

Minato continued, "However, I'll keep him with me for now. When you're ready, we'll see what happens." Rin looked sightly relieved, though it seemed as though she was still put off to the fact that one day she'd have to swallow that toad.

"Now you just gotta sign." Gerotama said, still amused. Minato nodded and once again channeled chakra onto his finger tips, and placed them onto the square, leaving his signature in the form as his fingerprints. When he pulled his hand away, Gerotama sealed up the scroll and shrank down to a normal size. "Open up, boss."

Even Minato wasn't thrilled by this prospect, but he nodded and clapped his hands together, opening his mouth incredibly wide. Gerotama jumped and only got a little bit stuck. Wiggling a bit, Minato finally swallowed down the toad, gasping for air when it was over. Kakashi was loathe to admit, but it was pretty gross.

"How do you know all this sealing stuff, Minato-sensei?" Rin asked, after Minato stopped coughing. 

Right, Rin had no idea about their teachers secret. Only the Sandaime and ANBU who reported directly to him, he wouldn't be surprised if Junko knew. What Kakashi himself knew.

"Well," Minato started nervously, rubbing his throat, "I have some good news. As you know, we have control over the Kyuubi. A Jinchuriki." When Rin nodded, he continued, a soft smile replacing his nervousness, "It just so happens that she is my wife."

"Kushina-san?!" Rin asked incredulously.

"Yes." Minato answered fondly. "I've been trusted with maintaining the seals that bind them together. I thought it would be a long time before I actually used them to seal another Jinchuriki." He laughed to himself. 

Guilt hit him when Rin looked to him accusingly, "Did you know?" 

"Yes I did." He waved his hands, "But it wasn't deliberate! I accidentally walked in on Kushina-san training." He briefly recounted the whole thing. 

Kakashi had been given prior access to train in the Forest of Death and he wanted to work on his speed with his tanto. A big crash deep in the forest got his attention and he went to investigate. In the center of destruction, Kushina and Minato were facing each other. Kushina had a wild look about her and a red chakra spilled out of her, forming what looked like a tail behind her. 

She looked incredibly dangerous. 

Minato had then said something to her, Kakashi was too far up in the trees to hear. Amazingly, Kushina forced herself out of her offensive stance and stood completely still. The red chakra slowly dissipated. 

"Unfortunately I didn't know the integrity of the tree I was in was failing." Kakashi said, embarrassed. "The branch broke and I fell. Minato-sensei caught me and explained everything, swearing me to secrecy." He desperately needed Rin to know it wasn't due to any bias their teacher held for him. There didn't need to be any unnecessary issues between them. 

Thankfully, Rin just laughed at him, "So you got caught sneaking." 

"I was only 10." Kakashi defended himself weakly, just relieved she wasn't mad. "Give me a break." Everyone laughed at him, knowing it was an excuse. 

"Well, this makes my other news more relevant." Junko said. They all looked to her as she continued, "The Hokage has strongly recommended that Kushina-san works with Rin. Of course, it's up to her. If she does, she'll report with Kakashi to the private sector."

"I'll talk with her when she comes home from her mission." Minato assured her. "But I think she'll do it." 

"Excellent." Junko said, getting to her feet. "I think we're done with all that. Now for my actual job."

Everyone got up as well. Kakashi asked, "What's your other job?"

"Well earlier, I said you'd find out who I was eventually. It's because I need to put up a barrier in your mind, in case you're captured and interrogated." 

Kakashi bristled, immediately rejecting the idea of someone getting into his head. No one needs to see every mistake he's ever made, the shame he feels at failing so many things. But it was unavoidable. He couldn't put Rin in danger like that or the village. 

Minato put a hand on his shoulder, "We understand. I'll go first." Kakashi was only too grateful. 

"I'll get you a chair." Rin said, scurrying off to get a chair from the small dinning table near the kitchen. 

It went by smoothly, Junko explained everything she was doing in a gentle tone. When she went quiet in concentration, it was only for a moment. Then they both let out a breath at the same time, her hand falling from his forehead. 

Minato looked up and smiled at him, "Your turn."

Kakashi took a seat before her. "Just relax." She whispered as she put her hand on his forehead. He closed his eyes and waited. Then, he could feel a memory coming up and he couldn't stop from remembering. It was his and Rin's mission, playing out from the beginning. 

They find their target and tail him, gathering as much intel about him as possible. He was young and had a scar going down his face. But everyone treated him like a superior and he even gave orders like an official. When Kakashi said they need to take a break, Rin agreed and took first watch. She was gone when he woke up an hour later. 

Something that sounded like a door closed. 

Every time they reached crucial parts of his memory the sound of a door closed. When they finally reached the end, which was the current present, there was a final door closing with a locking sound. He sucked in a breath and opened his eyes. Junko removed her hand and smiled at him. 

"You put up a good fight. That's a nice skill to have."

"What does that mean?" Kakashi asked, feeling exhausted and sluggish. 

She grinned and flipped her ponytail, "Your mental blocks. Anyone trying to get in there," she tapped on his head, "is gonna have a hard enough time with you before they deal with my seals." 

He had no idea. That was useful to know.

Minato held up one of his old kunai with the seal formula on it, "Can I?" He asked.

Junko picked up her mask and put it on, pointing to the door, "Outside. It won't work in here." 

Obediently, Minato opened the door and threw the kunai onto the opposite wall, lodging itself in firmly. He walked back over, offering Kakashi a hand. When he stood up he felt dizzy and was aware that Minato was holding him up, something he was grateful for. 

"We should be going." Minato said, pulling him close. "I'm afraid Kakashi needs time to recover and we're going to be waiting on that scroll. We'll meet the last week of the month." 

Rin nodded and Kakashi belatedly realized that Junko had already left, "I'll see you both then." 

Minato guided him to the door, picked up Kakashi's shoes, and closed it behind them. In a split second, they were in a new room, sunlight filtering in and then Kakashi was being lifted up. He didn't have the presence of mind to protest. Or to do anything really.

"This happens when they do that for the first time." Minato explained softly. "Just rest." Kakashi nodded and closed his eye, unable to keep it open.

He was set down on something soft and being covered in something softer. He realized it was a bed. From his left, he heard curtains being closed and the room became darker. Sleep took him before he knew it.

...

His heart was beating fast as he ran. There was still time, he could still save them. The forest cut at him, and someone was chasing him, the thumping of kunai hitting wood was always just right on his heels. Finally he reached the hideout comprised of stone. It was caved in. He was too late, but he still tore his way through, not ready to give up.

Underneath a large rock revealed a corpse. Except he kept whispering something, so that meant he couldn't be dead. Recognition hit Kakashi. The corpse was Obito, half crushed by the rock and missing an eye, blood and dust covering most of his face.

A haunting smile was on his lips and Kakashi was able to hear him whispering, "Save Rin. Save Rin. Save Rin."

Panic quelled in his chest as he noticed Rin wasn't with him. "I'll be back!" He yelled at Obito as he took off again. Once again, someone was chasing him as he heard shuriken zip past him. Desperately, he tried to lose them while also trying to find Rin. He knew that they took her.

When he jumped out of the trees and onto the rocky cliffside, there was Kiri-nin waiting for him. Every time he tried to use his chidori it was only half powered and would only knock out his enemies. Each time he took one out, another would get up.

Behind him, a Kiri-nin tried to sneak up on him, so he whipped around and hit them with him half powered attack. Except, it wasn't an enemy. Rin looked back at him, surprised at his hand on her chest. There was a burn mark there and the electricity from his attack had created a scar that matched it.

Blood spilled out of her mouth, droplets like rain falling onto his hand. She whispered, "Kakashi..." And then she fell against him. Steam burst out of her and it startled him awake.

He gasped, flinging himself upwards and the cover off him. Sweat chilled his skin and he shivered while also looking around the unfamiliar room. The days events caught up with him and he felt calmer. Minato had brought him somewhere. Shaking off the memory of his nightmare, he got out of the bed and left the room. Immediately he recognized the place as Minato and Kushina's home.

Quietly in the kitchen, he heard people talking. When he walked over and turned the corner into the room, he found Minato at the stove and Kushina putting something in a bowl behind him. He caught the tail end of Minato saying "there's no need to worry." As she turned to say something to him, she noticed Kakashi standing there awkwardly. Her hair was up and there was a bruise on her eye.

Tears welled in her eyes as she rushed over to him and enveloped him in her arms. Minato smiled at him and shrugged when Kakashi looked at him for help. After a moment, Kakashi realized the hug felt kind of nice. Tentatively, he lifted his arms and he hugged her back. He felt safe.

When they parted, she still kept her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye, asking him, "Are you okay?"

It was a difficult question to answer. He couldn't lie to her for some reason, but it would be awful to to tell her the truth. She was already worried enough. "I'll be okay." He settled on. It wasn't a lie. She didn't look any less worried, but she did usher him to the table.

"I hope you're hungry." She smiled as she sat him down, then went back to the kitchen. Thinking about it, he was hungry. Looking out the window, it showed the sun was down, telling him he slept for a while.

Soon, the table was set and when they said thanks for the meal, began eating. Maybe Kushina gave Minato a stern talking to or they decided together, but no one talked about the past few days. Instead, Kushina talked about her mission, a certainly adventurous one. Her team had been tasked with baiting a small group of Iwa-nin camping on the border of Waterfall Country and capturing them. A good tip from allies told them the soldiers planned on attacking one of their outposts. Her team was successful and they planned on using them as a prisoner exchange. And hopefully as a message.

"We could have easily been sent to kill them and risk more lives." Kushina said. "But I know Hiruzen-sama wants to end this war officially. Killing them could send the wrong message."

"I agree." Minato nodded. "I hope they can reach an agreement soon."

Privately, Kakashi thought back to Kirigakure. Technically, their attempt to set the Sanbi loose in the village was a stab at adding to this war. But without a Mizukage, there wasn't anyone to officially command them. Sure the village elders can influence certain events, but their word wasn't law. They don't even know who's idea this was. They knew it was someone who had at least some command of their ANBU hunters and who knew enough about the Sanbi to seal him into someone. Something Minato said earlier fluttered into his memory.

"Minato-sensei?" Kakashi asked quietly. "I know we're avoiding talking about what happened." Minato looked a little guilty at that. "But before, you mentioned that we don't have a scroll? What does that mean?"

"Right, that." Minato said, ignoring Kushina's glare. "We sent word to Jiraiya-sensei to come back for a new mission. He's a master at espionage and infiltration. Since they don't have a Jinchuriki, there has to be a reason why and they've recorded it. Somewhere in their archives in Kiri, there's information about Isobu." 

"Isobu?" Kushina asked.

"it turns out he has a name." Minato answered. For a moment, Kushina was quiet and went completely still. Then, she banged her fist on the table and shot up out of her, looking angry. 

"He has a name too and he won't tell me!" She yelled. Kakashi was startled, but Minato just smiled, used to her outbursts.

"You asked him?" Kakashi asked.

She made an aggravated noise and sat back down, "Yes. And he's a bitter old fool who can rot that way!" Kakashi could guess that was aimed at the Kyuubi. He's never seen a Biju in person, but he knew from past reports that they could be devastating to a village. Suna has been wrecked once by the Ichibi since he's been alive. To talk to one with such a tone with one spoke volumes about Kushina.

Thankfully, Minato changed the subject, "So, Kakashi-sensei, are you excited about teaching?"

Once again he was happy for the mask to hide his blush at being addressed like that, Kakashi shrugged, "I don't know. I've never taught anyone before. I don't even know where I would start." 

"Don't worry. We'll be there to help. I felt nervous taking on students of my own too." Minato reassured. And it helped, Kakashi had no idea his teacher felt like that.

The rest of the night went by semi peacefully, Kushina got worked up again about her mission. When he left for the night to go home, Kushina pulled him into another hug and Minato ruffled his hair, both of them welcoming him to come by any time. It felt nice to be cared about. He couldn't honestly say he was looking forward to going home where no one was waiting for him and he'd have to face his nightmares alone.

It was fine, he forced himself to think. He's been alone for a while now and it's been okay. He was a shinobi, he could endure a little loneliness.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun peaked through the clouds, a welcome sight for the nippy air. In a couple of weeks, winter will hit hard and Kakashi has honestly never looked forward to it. The weather in Konoha was rarely uncomfortable except for winter when it had numbing winds and snow every other year.

A strong yawn took hold of him, and Minato looked to him. "Sleep okay?"

"Slept fine. Just stayed up late planning for today." Kakashi said, not completely lying. He had another nightmare and he was also planning the training he would work on with Rin. 

"Be right back." Minato said, disappearing. They were currently walking through town and making their way to the training ground where Rin would be waiting for them. Kushina would be there later to do her part and with them again the next day. Since they were allowed to train twice a month, Kakashi went ahead and told Minato to schedule them for the last two days of the month. 

Kakashi continued walking, knowing Minato didn't have to keep up with him. He mused about teaching, about the thoughts that chased each other around the night before and the past few weeks. It was true that Rin was a gifted medical-nin and skilled kunoichi, but her taijutsu needed work. Her genjutsu was okay and she worked well under interrogation, but she wasn't the best at releasing herself. Between himself, her and Obito, he was good at recognizing one, even before he obtained the sharingan. She was pretty good at ninjutsu though of course, she could be better. So what would he tackle first? 

Jiraiya accepted the mission two weeks ago and wasn't back yet. No one seemed worried, so he wasn't going to be, but he still had no idea what Isobu was capable of and what Rin should also use his power for. Minato and the Sandaime want her to stick with being a medical shinobi, and with such a large amount of chakra would certainly be an asset if the village was attacked or another war broke out. But obviously, he wasn't going to be helping with that, he was to focus on helping her defend herself. 

Perhaps taijutsu then. You can't always rely on ninjutsu and since she was kidnapped twice, maybe they needed to focus on that. But then again, maybe a good ninjutsu to work on would have helped her, something distracting.

The same thought that fought him on this said once again that he should have been a better teammate and helped her. If he had just taken the first watch back in Kiri or had formed a different lineup when they were on the Kannabi Bridge mission none of this wouldn't have happened. If he were a better captain-

"Here you go." 

Minato was once again at his side to the left, offering him a can. It was coffee and Kakashi took it gratefully. Both for the energy pickup and the distraction from his rude thoughts. He needed a focus.

"Sensei?" Kakashi asked, tentative. He opened his can, trying not to fidget, "What should I focus on, with the training today? I'm not really sure what I should be teaching her."

"You haven't decided?" Minato asked him, shocked. It had been a while since the assignment, he really should have figured this out a while ago.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, resolutely looking forward, "I have outlines of the specific things she should work on. But I don't know what to focus on and what the right thing to do is."

Minato laughed lightly at him as they walked up the hill. "I don't mean to laugh at you. I've just never seen you worried like this. Not even when I made you Captain." Kakashi glared at him and huffed, but continued their walk, taking a drink of his coffee, being diligent with his mask. With all of his power he tried not to react to the taste of it, but he wasn't successful as he forced it down and started coughing. He was familiar with coffee but this tasted especially bitter.

This was made even worse when Minato was laughing at him again and patted him on the back. "It's extra strong. You need to be awake today." 

When Kakashi finished coughing, Minato continued, sounding amused, "Don't worry so much. Try asking her what she wants to do, then you'll have a better handle on what to focus on. You can even use these." He pulled out of his pocket a set of bells. 

The bells he had used to test the team at their first meeting, to be exact. 

"You're the teacher now, Kakashi. I'm just coming along to help." Minato told him, pressing the bells into his other hand. 

Thinking about the bells and what Minato said, it clicked about what he was going to focus on.

...

The room they were in was large, brightly lit and accommodating for any nature change someone would use. The floor was made of earth and there was a waterfall on the far wall that fell into pools that framed the room. It was an ideal training ground for close combat, but not for too much far range. Three wood posts sat in the center of the room, Kakashi stood on the middle one.

For a medical-nin, this made sense. They're supposed to be able to defend themselves and their ward but not partake in actual combat. Otherwise, if your medic is severely injured, the team has to be extra diligent to ensure their own survival and the medic as well. Not often, but missions are extended or fail because of that mistake.

Minato stood off to the side, waiting to be of assistance. Rin faced kakashi, wearing a comfortable training outfit, black pants that went just below her knees and a black short sleeve shirt that revealed her mesh armor underneath. Her arms were wrapped up for fighting. 

Kakashi had come similarly dressed, except he wore his sleeveless shirt and forewent his mesh armor. 

"There's a lot to work on, but I want to know what area you want to strengthen. Whatever you choose, you'll use it to get these from me." Kakashi explained, pulling the bells from his pocket. "You can try to take both or one. But eventually, I want you to be able to to capture both." 

Rin nodded. "I think I'd like to get better at taijutsu for now."

"Alright." Kakashi said, tying the bells to his pants on his hip. "Begin!"

After an hour of sparing, he had knocked Rin flat on her back two times. By the third, he finally had enough. There were certain things she needed to work on, definitely, but there was more to her than that and it was getting on his nerves.

"If you keep pulling your punches, you won't even touch a bell, let alone taking two of them." He told her, his voice low. 

She looked up at him, her brow furrowed, "I'm not-"

"You made genin at age 9." He interrupted her. "Chunin at age 11. I read your file. Average shinobi don't graduate at that rate at those ages. They wouldn't send us to war if you couldn't handle it. Whatever is holding you back doesn't matter right now." She looked down, guilty. "Now, again. No holding back this time!"

Once more Rin got up and took her stance. There was a nervousness in her eyes but when she attacked, her hits were more powerful, and now he could fully assess what she needed to train on. It even took longer for him to knock her down compared to the other times. Though, she had yet to land a promising hit.

He sat down on the post as she laid on the ground panting hard, trying to catch her breath. Minato walked over and threw a bottle of water at him, which he deftly caught. Instead of throwing the other bottle, he crouched down and handed it to her, a proud smile lighting up his face. She took it, sat up, and drank in earnest. Truth be told, he was so focused on Rin that he forgot Minato was there. They had the whole day together, he might as well use his teacher while he could. When she was done, she looked at him seriously and asked, "How was that this time?" 

He brought his knee up and rested his head on it, getting comfortable, "Better. But your hits and kicks lack useful strength needed for them to be successful. You'll also need to work on being quicker. Building up muscle and speed is what we'll focus on for the remainder of our session. Since we're allowed to continue tomorrow, I'll bring stuff I used to train with."

"Fantastic." Rin grumbled, flopping back onto the ground.

"I know you've been practicing with two nature affinities." Kakashi pressed on, though amused by her sulking. "Fire and water, correct?" 

She rolled her head to look over at him, "Yes, though I need to work on my water release. I know it's hard, but I want to get to a point where I don't need a body of water to help." 

"That is hard." Kakashi said, surprised that she wants to be able to push herself that much. "It'll take a couple of years to master something like that. Are you sure?"

She pushed herself up and grinned at him, "Positive. I don't want to rely on something when I don't have complete access of it."

Kakashi crossed his arms, "That's good to know. Because I want you to learn a technique for steam and fog. It'll help keep enemies away from you and allow you to escape or give you cover to heal your allies."

"That's easier said than done." Rin sulked again. "Considering I don't have a kekkei genkai for that kind of thing."

"Probably." Kakashi said unhelpfully. He hopped off the post and walked behind them. With a moment of concentration, he summoned a large wall. "I'm still working on that part, but don't worry about that. For now, I just want you to climb this with no chakra and then we'll brake to eat."

As Rin got up, she studied the wall, probably noticing how smooth it was. Minato pulled out two kunai from his pouch and offered them to her, as he was familiar with this type of training. Rin was not as she complained, "Who came up with this kind of training anyways?"

"I don't know who originated it, but i had to do this with my father and Minato-sensei." Kakashi answered in a bored tone, watching her carefully as he walked back to sit on the post. He never used to mention his father, but ever since Obito's death, he's mentioned him a few times. Every time, Rin would get this pitiful look on her face and he couldn't stand it. 

Her face flickered for a second, but she didn't say anything. Instead she took the offer from Minato and set to work. The wall was only four times her height, Kakashi figured it would probably take her an hour or so to get to the top with the amount of strength she already had. 

"Do you think she can handle your old routine?" Minato asked as he walked up next to him. 

"Probably." Kakashi said, shrugging. "It was easy for me to push myself because of my father, Gai, and Obito. She doesn't have rivalry to push her."

Minato snickered at him, "So, you noticed. I shouldn't be surprised." 

Yes, he'd noticed that he'd been baited into working hard. It worked better on Obito and Gai, but he definitely had his moments. It stopped working when his father died. At that point, the whispering and sly glances from the people who scorned Sakumo turned his motivation into spite and grim determination. Then when Obito died, it turned into a need to desperately keep Rin safe.

Now, he's not sure what's motivating him. 

There's really no way for him to ensure Rin's safety now, though he'll still die trying to keep her safe. But throughout the weeks of planning her training, he realized he'd be giving her the tools to take care of herself without him there. Perhaps it was a harsh reality for Minato and the Hokage to realize that it wasn't wise to send her on missions with him. 

He supposed his motivation was to just be there for Rin, atone for what he's put her through, for getting Obito killed, and being no better than the people who shunned his father. There was even a debt to Minato, for putting up with him all these years. It fills him with embarrassment and regret to think about all the teams he's failed by his stubbornness and elitist attitude, all the energy and time that was wasted. 

He was going to talk to Minato about maybe just going on solo missions for now on. At least the only life he'd be responsible for was his own rather than putting others in danger. 

"I just wish I could blame Gai's obsession with me on you, Sensei." Kakashi grumbled, shaking off his thoughts. No, that was Gai's father's doing. Then his own father had teased him about it occasionally and of course Gai wouldn't stop bothering him, so eventually he indulged them all. He was a fool to think that beating him would make Gai stop bothering him. Though now, Gai might be the only true friend he's had that understands him. "I just wish I could find something like that for her. She's not competitive. That's what makes her such a good medic."

"I don't know." Minato mused. "I'm her teacher too and even though I don't know what it is, there was definitely something driving her to make the strides she has." 

Even though he knew Minato was right, Kakashi felt like he was also lying. He probably knew what her motivation was and was making him find out for himself.

A thunk on the wood below him got his attention. Looking haggard, Rin sat triumphantly on top of the wall, twirling the other kunai on her finger. Kakashi was stunned, she finished that quicker than he thought she would. Regardless, he pulled out the kunai and threw it next to her leg forcefully.

"Now climb back down." 

She inhaled to yell at him, probably intending to tell him off for being too harsh, but her stomach growled very loudly. The same thing had happened to him when he started this kind of training.

"I'm sure you know you could jump down or wall walk with chakra, but we're not working on those things." Kakashi said. 

Taking a deep breath, Rin nodded, wrenching the kunai from where it was lodged and began her careful trek down. Coming down was tricky and there was a greater chance she could fall. 

Luckily, she did not. 

As they ate their lunch, Kakashi planned what they would do next. He knew a good way to increase speed was to tie weights to your wrists and ankles and practice fighting with them on, as well as working out with them. But he left those at home and he'd have to bring them tomorrow. And he also wanted to use Minato's skills while he was still here. It wasn't guaranteed that he would be here for every session. 

A good idea struck him. 

When they were done eating, Kakashi dismantled the wall. He turned to Minato, "Sensei, could you summon a toad please? Preferably one with quick reflexes with a tongue." 

With a puff of smoke, a large toad appeared, though Kakashi knew it would get bigger in time. It was orange with blue markings and wore a beaded necklace that read loyalty on it. "This is Gama-chan." Minato introduced. "He doesn't speak much. Gama-chan, could you assist us in training please?" 

Gama gave him a side glance and croaked lowly. Kakashi wasn't an expert in toads, but he knew a brush off when he saw it. Minato laughed nervously, "Come on Gama-chan. I know you're still training and Jiraiya-sensei is on a mission right now. You could use some practice. I know Jiraiya-sensei would be impressed."

Apparently that was enough of a motivation for Gama as he begrudgingly nodded. 

"Thank you, Gama-chan." Kakashi said, then looked at Rin. "Same goal. I want you to get the bells. We'll work on speed now, so you're allowed to walk on the walls and the water. Gama-chan, under no circumstances should she get the bells." 

He tied them on the end of a kunai and flung it directly above the waterfall. This time, to track her movements, he lifted his forehead protector and opened his left eye to activate his sharingan.

"Go." 

Just as expected, every time she made a play for her target, Gama whipped his tongue out and stopped her. She was quick to dodge direct attacks, but not fast enough for the sneaky ones. Instead of aiming to lash out, Gama would sneak around her and wrap his tongue around her ankle to throw her across the room. With time, he knew that she would finally hone in on the noises around her and to build up speed to dodge the attack. The bells were merely a formality, the real goal is to not get caught. 

Currently, she was darting up the wall again, dodging harsh attacks from Gama's tongue. His tongue darted away from her, intending for another sneak attack. However, when it slithered near her from behind, she finally noticed it. Though she still lacked the speed to properly dodge it, Kakashi still felt good about her ability to progress. 

When she got thrown again, Kakashi retrieved the bells and called out to them. He closed his left eye, "That's enough for today. Thank you for your help, Gama-chan." Gama nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Rin had gotten up and was at her bag, taking huge gulps of water. He was about to say something to her when someone else was yelling. 

"Oi! That was great!" 

Kushina ran up from behind them and grinned at Rin. She was wearing her uniform and had her hair up. Kakashi had been so focused on the exercise that he hadn't noticed her coming in and watching. 

Rin smiled shyly back up at her, "Thank you, Kushina-san. I'm trying my best." 

"Good!" Kushina raved. They continued to talk and Kakashi took that as a sign that they were done for the day, so he quietly gathered his things and left.

He got as far as outside the building before Minato appeared at his side. Glancing at him, he offered quietly, "Thank you for your help today" and continued walking. 

"I was happy to help." Minato answered pleasantly. They walked in silence for a while, children playing in the streets and adults doing their shopping. Up ahead, he saw Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma going towards a shop. Not wanting to deal with their pity, he took a detour in an ally and walked behind the buildings. 

When Rin's parents held the funeral, everyone from their class showed up. She had a big impact on them, always gathering them to hang out and offering to heal their small wounds, even being stern and caring when one of them needed the hospital but didn't want to be a burden. There was even a small get together for him when he became a jonin that she had put together. 

It was his fault that her loving spirit was taken from their group of friends. It's been a month and he hasn't been able to look at any of them without feeling incredibly guilty. Plus, he also felt like he didn't really deserve their friendship anyways. There were already rumors about the incident, the others didn't need to be dragged into it- 

"Yeah, that's him. The friend killer-"

"Shh! They'll hear you!"

Two younger genin boys were hanging out in one of the ally ways behind them. Unfortunately, they weren't being as quiet as they thought they were. He continued to walk as though he didn't hear them though. Confronting them would solve nothing.

This was exactly what he didn't want his friends to hear or deal with. They didn't need the grief. The first time he heard it was on his way home from working out. He'd decided on getting out of his own head and had summoned his dogs to run laps. The were still so young and eager to play with him. He had been thinking about training them with a new jutsu, Minato had told him that you could do that with animal summoning, when a chunin taller than him had bumped into him. 

The kid was walking with a friend and they both looked run down, probably coming back from a mission. 

One of them whispered, "Yeah, he's the guy who gets his friends killed on missions."

"I thought he killed them?"

Kakashi did the same thing and kept on walking, but his nightmares that night were his worst yet. He woke up and still felt the powerful blow to her chest and the blood dripping on his hands. He doesn't know how long he spent at the sink, desperately trying to clean it off, because he hadn't really been fully awake.

He fears that his dreams are so vivid and lifelike because it was burned into his sharingan. Not wanting to be a burden, he never brought it up to anyone. Perhaps he could ask for help from someone in Uchiha, but he has felt like a horrible intruder because of his eye. No one has alluded to that, but he still felt fearful of that rejection. The Uchiha were already exclusive as it was and he doubted he'd be very welcome. 

"I'm sorry." Minato said, breaking him from his thoughts. "I never anticipated that happening." 

"It's fine." He said, keeping his tone neutral. "We both know what happened." 

It didn't matter. They were gonna say it even if Minato raised hell about it. Rumors were vicious once they were spread. There was no telling what people were actually saying about him and the incidents. All they knew was that he had somehow managed to get most of his team killed months apart from each other the minute he was made a captain.

There was a chance he wouldn't have to even ask to be put on solo missions, perhaps people would flat out refuse to work with him. 

It was for the best. 

No use in not mentioning it now. "I think it would be safer for me to take solo missions for now on." He started. "As you can see, I doubt anyone will serve with me now and I'm qualified for those types of missions."

"But is that safe?" Minato countered. "You've never been on a solo mission and you were just getting used having Gai on your team and also doing to two man jobs. Special case jonin usually do S-rank solo missions and they do so knowing they may not come back alive."

"I meant safe for the others." Kakashi said quietly. "I know perfectly well that I could die on a mission."

"Yes, but there's a difference between knowing that and not caring about it." Minato said, his tone stern. It irked Kakashi that it reminded him of his father. He didn't want to add anything, talking further would only incriminate him. "We'll talk about it more when you're back on active field duty." 

Finally they reached his building to begin walking up the stairs. At his door, Minato pulled out a two forms. "The Hokage would like a report on these sessions. You don't have to mention names. Submit it personally after your time tomorrow and the next dates for request." 

When Kakashi took the forms, Minato laid a hand on his head and smiled at him, ruffling his hair. For a moment, Kakashi was able to push off his feelings from earlier and be his old self. 

"Sensei," he complained and pushed at the hand, "I'm not a kid."

That only made Minato laugh, but he pulled his hand away, "Still a kid to me. Come over for dinner sometime. You're always welcome."

Kakashi sighed, "Thank you, Minato-sensei. I will." 

"I'll see you soon." Right. Minato had a mission to Suna tomorrow and wouldn't be able to help with Rin. 

He said goodbye and when he got inside his home, he set about making dinner, all the while planning the day for tomorrow. After dinner he wrote the report and what he would be working on for a while. 

He took his own personal notes, and began thinking out ninjutsu she could pair with her defense. Maybe something water style, so she could get better at using it. He wrote more notes about her skills, hoping to draw something from them.

His thoughts wandered back to the conversation about what drives Rin. He was definitely curious about that. Usually it's because of family expectations, though she's never talked about pressure from her parents. Her clan is pretty small with no particular bloodline limit, though there was always a generation of healers, he knows that's what her mother does. 

Perhaps it had been Obito. They were pretty close, close enough for Obito to fall in love with her. She seemed to believe he could have become Hokage, even though he was clumsy and constantly late. Maybe he inspired her that if he could train hard enough to pull that off, she could be a great ninja as well.

A small part of him feared that it was him. 

Rin didn't hide her admiration of him, but she really was a good, supportive friend. Sure she cheered him on during the chunin exams, but she also cheered on their other friends, even if they failed. He had an idea of how she felt for him, but it was confirmed when they thought they were going to die. Even though she didn't finish her confession, it still felt painfully overwhelming. 

Obito had just been killed and he had been in love with her. They were facing certain death and her near confession was a sudden jolt of confirmation for their fate. It was almost a blinding relief when Minato showed up. 

They haven't talked about it since and she hadn't indicated more than friendship as well. Kakashi had told himself that it was heat of the moment for her and fear for her life. Which is exactly what he firmly reminded himself as he continued on with his notes. 

When he started to get achingly tired, it was just passed midnight. There was no use putting off sleep, it wouldn't do him any good. A nightmare was bound to wake him up, so he might as well get sleep while he could. 

...

The next session went just as good as the first. Rin informed him about the developments with Isobu. The theory was that the Biju could be put under control with strong emotions, as the Kyuubi was with love since he had a very strong hatred. So there was an emotion that effected Isobu and she was going to find out what it was. 

Kushina had only given her the slightest bit of homework and that was to meditate. It was a good way to reach them, apparently. She said she wasn't able to actually talk with Isobu yet, but she could definitely feel him whenever she meditated.

Until Rin found that connection, they were not to mess with his chakra at all if they could help it. It was an overwhelming power and it was very dangerous, especially since they were under ground and could cause a cave in. Kushina was still struggling to reserve a spot for Rin to one day practice out in the open, but due to her imense secrecy, such a secluded place did not exist.

Kakashi didn't mind. Rin was still a long ways away from any of that. 

With Minato not there, Kakashi instead used his dogs for the speed training, who also needed more training. It gave Kakashi a couple of ideas for the future when working with them. Rin absolutely hated the weights, even though they weren't that heavy. Well, he had gotten up to a hundred pounds on his weights, so he doesn't have much of a reference anymore. But they were just ten pounds each, it couldn't be that hard.

At the end, before he left this time he gave her homework with doing workouts and coming to this training area to practice whenever she could. He gave her some scrolls that contained some weights in them and told her to work up to them and find her max amount. It would help her gauge her limits. 

Once again, he left when Kushina showed up, but not without her inviting him over like her husband had. 

It wasn't as though as Kakashi was avoiding going over there, he had a pleasant time when he was last there. He just couldn't help but feel awkward and young around them. 

They scheduled the first appointment two weeks later and the second on the third week. 

Kakashi spent that time training on his own and trying to shake off his memories of the incident. When he practiced his Raikiri, it never failed to send a shiver down his spine, thinking about what would have happened if he had used this method instead of a moderate powered chidori. Her heart would have just been obliterated. 

Just when he feels his heart in his throat, he shakes off his panic and the image of Rin's bloody face. He usually summons his ninken to practice his new jutsu idea when that happens. 

Before the next meeting, Jiraiya had finally shown back up. At a summons in the training area, the Sandaime, Minato, Kushina, Rin, and himself listened to his report. Apparently he had done more than collect writings and reports about Isobu, but also to investigate the lake where Rin had been taken to in the first place. A dense fog enveloped the area and the closer you got to the lake, reality would start to warp, meaning it was a powerful genjutsu. Deep in the bottom of the water there was indeed a strong dwelling of sealed chakra, information Jiraiya gathered from his toad that was specialized in genjutsu enough to counter the fogs effect.

From the minimal information the reports provided confirmed that it was indeed Isobu casting the fog. Even at half power and sealed away, he was still strong enough to provide that kind of defense. The writings also commented that Isobu was a creature that prided defense and there hadn't been a compatible enough person yet to fill the responsibility as a Jinchuriki.

It also told them that whatever sealing technique was done on Rin and Isobu was incomplete. Half remained in the lake, half resided in Rin. Kakashi remembers her saying that she thinks someone died during the process. Perhaps that person was the caster and died trying.

Regardless, the information was perfect, it was more than enough for Kakashi to work with. If Rin could somehow access that kind of power, it would make a world of difference. And Kakashi believed she could too, since it was evident that she was compatible with him. All they had to do was focus on a water ninjutsu and perfect her genjutsu. 

At the next meeting, Kakashi started with their regular routine and was satisfied to see that her new regime was paying off. Every time she struck a blow, there was a new pressure there that wasn't there before. He was still too quick for her to actually hit any vital spots yet, but he knew he'd have to step up his own progress too at some point just to stay ahead of her. 

Minato had said he sadly couldn't make it to this meeting, but maybe the next one. Promising his dogs each a treat, they helped him again. 

The next day, Kakashi had barely slept at all. He's not sure what spurred on such a strong dream, but it was definitely traumatic. Rin had repeated his name, getting increasingly intense and soon had been furious. Her emotions forced more blood from her mouth, making the usual drops of blood full on spatters against his hand. When her eyes had turned red and she yelled his name, he bolted awake, still feeling the blood on his hand. 

He had thrown up and washed his hand for well over an hour, unable to get the feeling off. When he finally shook off the hallucinations of sleep, he sprinted out of his window and went to train, though he didn't bother his ninken at that hour. 

He didn't dare go home after becoming too exhausted to train safely, so he wandered the village, not really even seeing anything. Gai might've even called his name at some point. The only thing that broke through was a sign he read that was selling books. A book might get his attention away from his nightmares. 

Unfortunately, the book that got his attention was describing honorable ways a ninja was supposed to die. He didn't care. He bought a copy and started reading. 

That was how Gai later found him, reading on a bench. The news he'd received took him off guard for sure, but it was no surprise. Minato was going to make the perfect Hokage. 

It was after the second training session of the month with Rin that Minato had called him into his new office. It was different than the Sandaime's. Minato actually had a desk, which was already piled with paperwork. 

Finally, after nearly two months, Minato was sending him back on a mission. And perhaps his old teacher was listening to him, because it was a solo mission. 

It was just entirely too embarrassing that he completely screwed it up. Of course he was grateful for Gai, if he hadn't been there, Kakashi would have definitely died. On the bright side, according to his book, it was an honorable way for him to die. He just couldn't help but feel hurt that Minato would send Gai secretly to tail him. 

The recommendation for ANBU was unexpected but entirely welcome. Kakashi took it as a recognition of his skill and decided to forgive his teacher. 

At the dark entrance of this particular ANBU building on top of the mountain, Kakashi threw away his book. Many reasons swirled in his head. None of them mattered. 

It was ironic though. When he received his uniform, the dog mask that stared at him signaled that Junko had died. Since she was ANBU, he couldn't help but feel that her death was most likely honorable.

Perhaps this was a sign that he had a lot to prove.

...

By the next meeting, the first week of the month, Kakashi had already been on a mission, which had turned into an investigation. Some would call him ruthless and cold, but he just shrugged it off as getting the job done. Instead of overwhelming himself with the imagine of Rin trying to kill herself, Kakashi used it for motivation. He would be damned if he screwed up on his ANBU missions, it was embarrassing enough that he messed up his last mission.

If his resolve spiked in their training, Rin didn't mention it. 

When Kushina showed up, she apologized to Rin, as they had to keep the lesson short. She had been feeling sick the past couple of days since her last mission. Of course, it was only a low profile mission, so she saw no combat. 

"No need to worry." She waved them off with a smile. "Knowing my luck I probably just ate something bad on my way home." 

"Still," Kakashi said, "I'll sit in on this lesson and walk you to the doctor." 

She had pulled him into a hug and bellowed, "You're such a sweet kid! Thank you so much!" He could hear Rin giggling behind him. 

Truth be told, he was actually very curious about their lessons. Of course, Rin reported everything they did, it was different than seeing it. As he sat on top of the wooden post with anticipation, they began. Kushina stood beside him and Rin walked over to the waterfall.

Rin sat underneath the waterfall and began meditating. 

After a few minutes, a thin fog started to engulf the room. Before he could panic, Kushina set a hand on his arm, "Don't worry. Nothing bad happens."

Turns out, that was really only the most exciting thing that happened. It was definitely interesting and should mean that Rin was close to at least subconsciously seeing with Isobu. Kushina had explained once that when she talked with the Kyuubi, which wasn't often, they would talk in a place within her that was warm and bright while he was suspended by chakra. 

The lack of information they had and what the Kyuubi wasn't willing to say was becoming a hindrance. They wouldn't know for sure if Rin was moving in the right direction or not. A theory Kakashi hoped was wrong was maybe she would only be in contact with him when she was in danger, like she had been at the very beginning. There was also absolutely no way he was about to test that theory. 

When thirty minutes passed, Kushina ended the meditation and asked if there was any progress. 

"It was a little different this time." Rin admitted as she dried off her hair. 

"Oh?" 

She nodded, "This time, when I felt his presence, there was a dark corridor that I was walking through endlessly. Though even if we continued at our usual time, I don't think I would have made it any further."

Kushina beamed at her, "Progress is progress. I want you to reflect on everything you felt during that time." 

They talked a little further about it and then after Rin wished them both well, Kakashi escorted Kushina to her doctors office. 

Kushina was happy to chat the entire time about how excited she was to try a new desert as they passed the shops and how one of her friends from Uchiha was pregnant. Kakashi was mostly quiet, but spoke up when prompted. When they passed the ramen place, a little girl Kushina called Ayame had said she found a red wildflower that reminded her of Kushina. As they left, she raved about how cute the little girl was and how she loved that ramen shop. 

"Teuchi-san has always been so nice to me. It helped a lot when the other kids tried to bully me." Kushina said fondly.

Kakashi had heard a little bit about this from rumors. When she was a kid, she was bullied for being an outsider and her hair color. Though Kushina didn't take it sitting down and gained a reputation for beating up anyone who disrespected her. 

A breeze blew in, bringing in a more of a chill to the air. Kakashi figured it would start getting even more colder soon, maybe bringing in snow as well since it didn't last year.

Finally they reached the hospital and before Kakashi could escape with just a simple goodbye, Kushina pulled him into another hug. Surprisingly, this one was gentle and not bone crushing like usual. It actually felt nice. He didn't hug back, but he did relax into it. 

When she pulled back, she ruffled his hair and looked down at him fondly, "You need a haircut. Come over tomorrow and I'll cut it for you."

She was right, his hair was getting a little bit too much. It grew outwards instead of flat. He's thought of just growing it out and putting up, but he figured it would just look ridiculous. So he nodded and she beamed at him. 

"Great! 5 o'clock and you'll stay for dinner, yeah?" Before he could protest or think of an excuse, she was already walking away, yelling out, "See you later!" 

Shrugging, he walked towards his home, figuring out what he might want for dinner and remembering he needed to treat the dogs for helping him these past few weeks. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to bring money to go to the store and pick up a couple of things. As long as he was buying steak for the dogs, he bought some for himself. 

Once again, he passed Gai by accident without saying anything, too caught up in his thoughts to notice his friend. It's been nearly three months since he's really talked to any of his friends. When he couldn't avoid them, they thankfully stuck to menial small talk. It's still the same reason, there's no need for any of them to get caught up in his issues. 

Though, he might end up talking with Gai sooner rather than later. They were both orphans and only had themselves to look after. When Gai lost his father, Kakashi was there for him and vice versa. If he was being honest, he really did miss his friend. 

No, he wasn't exactly lonely, the training with Rin and his dogs kept him social enough. For all of his eccentrics, Gai really was a good friend and was on his way to becoming an excellent shinobi. In a few years, Kakashi could see him making Jonin as an expert in taijutsu. One of these days, he'll invite Gai to train with him. If anyone could put up with him, it was Gai. 

Later on, as he was cooking up the steaks, he noted that it was not wise to summon his dogs before their dinner was cooked. It was a side of them that he hadn't had the chance to see before since signing the contract. Sure they grumbled and complained for food while training, but while he turned over the meat in the pan, eight young ninken barked their orders on how they wanted their food cooked. 

Urushi, Ūhei, and Shiba wanted it medium rare, Bisuke wanted his well done while Akino made fun of him, and then Guruko wanted his rare and Bull grunted his support. Pakkun popped up constantly to ask when it'll all be done, confirming that he was indeed the leader. 

Still, it was nice to eat with them when it was all ready. Despite their earlier comments and badgering, each of them sang his praises for the good food. Apparently they thought the food they hunted was only okay back in their homeland. He had no idea where that was, but he imagined it was like living with the Inuzuka clan somewhat. 

After dinner he looked at his bag, dreading his workload. Not only did he have to write his report on Rin and haggle the next meeting, he also had to look over the reports of the investigation.

Truth be told, he did regret killing all the fake Iwa-nin, any Intel they would have revealed would have been great, seeing as they could only gather so much information from their bodies. But he wasn't going to admit that out loud.

Surprisingly, they were not from Kirigakure. In fact, other than the occasional missing-nin, Kiri hasn't alluded that they wanted to rekindle the war with them since their assault nearly three months ago. Both the Sandaime and Minato have definitely reached out for answers. Of course, they sent word back that they were completely unaware of the situation. Whether it was true or not could only be revealed with time. 

His thoughts drifted to the war. It was strange to think that it was officially over, however fragile it's finality was. He hoped the peace lasted. It was true that being a shinobi came with the trauma of losing the people closest to you or losing your own life, but at this point in his life, it would be devastating to lose any more of his friends. 

Feeling tired from the days work and his thoughts, he went to bed. Although, it was likely he wouldn't sleep long. 

...

There was a bamboo forest before him as he walked through it. Anxiety poked at him, telling him he needed to be careful, but of what was not clear. There wasn't a path to follow, but luckily fire flies were lighting his way a little bit. Instinctually, he knew that the bamboo stumps were cutting into his legs as he stumbled over them, but he also couldn't feel anything. 

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. His anxiety kicked up, knowing this was the thing to fear and yet he had no idea what it was. When he turned, a clearing that wasn't there before had appeared and Obito was sat on the ground, his eyes closed and looking almost peaceful. Except, his clothes were ruined and half of his face was scarred something awful. The hitai-ate that Obito was so proud of was nowhere to be found, nor were his goggles. 

"Where's Rin?" Kakashi asked.

Obito shrugged, "She'll be here." 

"Where are we?" To his horror, Obito opened his eyes, but there was nothing under his lids. "What happened to your eyes?!"

"They were stolen, I guess." Obito said, pretty nonchalant for such a confession. He knew of this phenomenon. The Uchiha were protective of their eyes. People wanted to steal them. "You would know."

"What?" Kakashi asked, bringing his hand to his left eye. He only felt the empty socket and when he brought his hand away, it was bloody. 

When he looked back up, Rin was there too, smiling gently at him. She was also missing her eyes and her shirt was torn to reveal her scars. 

Obito looked up at her, his grin turned loving, "I'm glad to see you." 

"I'm glad you're okay." She said, sitting down beside him. Kakashi looked down at the both of them and he wanted to scream. He wanted to yell. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops that none of them were even remotely okay. They began talking, but he could only hear a loud ringing in his ears. 

The persist ringing woke him up. Kakashi registered that this was his alarm from the clock he set the night before. He shut it off and laid there, spooked from his dream. Although, it was a relief from his usual nightmares. Those involved everyone being angry with him or horrified by his. He once dreamt about watching Obito's death as an outsider. 

This one was hardly a nightmare, aside from the fact that everyone was missing their eyes, himself included with his left one. He wondered idly if that meant anything. Some people believed in that kind of stuff. Kakashi didn't know if he did or anything like that really. 

Glancing at the clock, he got up and got ready for the day. When he was eating breakfast, there was an ANBU in a bear mask at his window, summoning him to the Hokage's office. Acknowledging the ANBU, he quickly finished his food and put on his uniform, organizing all his files and putting them in his bag to make his report.

It was a little surprising to find he had been the only person to be summoned, but he continued as usual. 

"Kakashi, I want you to leave your current investigation and take on a special mission."

Worried he might've done something wrong, he asked, "Was there an issue?"

"It's nothing like that. It's more like a top-secret errand." Minato assured him. Then his face lit up, "Kushina's pregnant!" 

He stuttered, taken aback, "Oh! Congratulations."

Minato grinned and thanked him, but suddenly grew serious, explaining the risk this posed as Kushina being a Jinchuriki. The seal would weaken during child birth and uniquely, it would be a ten month pregnancy rather than nine. He was assigned to guard Kushina from any harm, which he proudly accepted. After being sworn to secrecy and other minor details, they switched topics.

"Like always, you'll continue on with Rin's training, but I'll coordinate Kushina to start coming in early." Minato explained. He smiled sympathetically, "Her sessions though will probably end temporarily around the third trimester mark." 

They continued to organize the future proceedings and schedule. Then Kakashi handed over his reports of the last meeting as well as his small intel on the investigation, noting that it might be a smaller country who stands to benefit from having Konoha breaking the treaty with Iwa by accident. 

"I think that'll be all." Minato said, wrapping up their meeting. "In emergencies, I'll need to pull you, but there won't be any need to take any regular missions." 

Kakashi nodded and then remembered his promise the day before, "Is it okay to stop by? Kushina-san said she wanted to cut my hair." He put a hand in his hair self consciously.

Minato looked delighted, "That's perfectly fine. You're allowed to guard her in whatever fashion you deem fit. Although," he chuckled, "it's best to act surprised when she tells you the news." 

"She's gonna hug me, isn't she?" He grumbled. Minato's laughter at his expense followed him on his way out. 

Since it was still morning and he wasn't expected over until five, it was a good opportunity to go ahead and start his new mission. Beforehand, he went home and grabbed a spare shirt to put on for later. 

When he got to their house, Kushina was on the balcony and tending to the little garden they had there. It was amusing to watch, because she quietly talked to her plants and had names for them. She was of course talking to them about the baby and the pros and cons of having a boy or girl. After that it was busy housework. It was pretty uneventful. Though she did throw up a few times. The first caused him to panic and before he burst in to see if she was okay, he remembered that type of thing happens to you when you're pregnant.

Finally, it neared time for him to be over and he knew she wouldn't mind his being a bit early. He took off his greaves and mask, stowed in them his bag and put on a navy blue shirt and his hitai-ate over his left eye. 

As expected, Kushina was excited to see him and gave him a crushing hug, giving him the news. Like before, Kakashi acted just as surprised and offered his congratulation. She babbled her excitement and how much she's looking forward to being a mother. As soon as he removed his shoes, Kushina was ushering him further into the house and into the kitchen. She ran around the house gathering things, still talking, something about a sonogram later in the week. 

Finally, she shuffled back in carrying two towels, a hair dryer and some scissors, piling them up on the kitchen table. After a minute of getting everything set up in the middle of the kitchen, Kakashi was sat down with one of the towels draped around him with wet hair and waiting for her to start snipping. 

It was always relaxing getting his hair cut. These days either Rin or Kushina bug him into cutting it when it gets too out of control, but back in the day, his father used to do it. It was less of a mess to do it in the backyard. The birds would be chirping away and there would be a light breeze shaking the leaves a bit. The gentle cuts of the scissors going at locks of his hair would send the occasional shiver down his spine, especially the ones close to his ears. 

Of course, Kushina's house didn't have a backyard, but it was still nice. Her chatting was quiet and more thoughtful now, as if he were one of her plants. Though she did like any response he gave her, unlike her plants. 

After a while, she grew quiet while brushing out his hair and Kakashi began thinking about the future a bit. He's not sure what's gonna happen to Minato and being the Hokage after the kid is born. Usually parents get nearly two years off, and surely Kushina will, but Minato is the leader now. He just got started. Would someone else take over after ten months for that long? Would he even take a paternity leave? 

Kakashi thought back on Asuma and what he's said about his father being Hokage. None of it's very flattering as he never actually sees his father unless it's for a mission report. Their relationship might've gotten better or will soon with Minato running things. But if Hiruzen takes back over temporarily, maybe not then. 

On the other hand, Kakashi just knows that Kushina will go crazy if she's left alone with the baby. 

Soon enough, Kakashi realizes he drifted into his own thoughts there for a bit. Then again, so has Kushina since she keeps lazily petting his hair, not even bothering with a brush anymore. It felt pretty nice, so he wasn't too inclined to say anything about it. 

Not that it really even mattered, Kushina broke out of her thoughts and finished her work, once again chatting happily. She went on about how good his hair looked and how handsome he was, that it was a shame he kept his face covered by the mask. Kakashi was grateful when she stopped talking to blow dry his hair and the annoying hairs she cut off on his shoulders. When they argued about the mask, it was a long argument. Luckily, she didn't press on when she turned off the hair dryer but instead took the towel off of him. 

"I'm gonna get the hair off of this." Kushina said, walking towards the balcony. "You're welcome to go look at my work in the bathroom." 

Even though he knew what it would look like, he still got up to look anyways. Just as expected, it was shorter on the sides and an inch off the top. It looked fine, like always. In a couple of months, he'll be back in the chair getting it cut again. 

When he left the bathroom and looked at the kitchen he felt a little guilty about the mess, so he found a broom and dustpan and began sweeping up the leftover hair. Kushina had put down a second towel underneath his chair to catch most of the hair, so when he was done sweeping, he carefully picked up the towel and threw away the big tufts, then joined Kushina outside to shake out the rest. 

She thanked him for the help and started on about her kid again. She kinda hoped that the kid would turn out more like Minato, soft spoken, friendly, and patient. "I would feel bad if they got my personality." She laughed. "The poor kid wouldn't make friends easily and would probably be teased." 

"I would be their friend." Kakashi said quietly. 

Kushina beamed at him, "Thank you, Kakashi. That makes me feel better. Hey!" She said excitedly. "When I think about it, you'll probably be old enough to be their teacher by the time they're in the academy, ya know!" 

Doing the math in his head, he realized that was kinda right. There was no telling when the kid would actually graduate, but Kakashi would be in his twenties around that point. Though the thought of teaching Minato's kid was overwhelming, that job was best left to someone better than him, like Jiraiya or Minato himself if he retired by that point. There wasn't even guarantee he would live that long. 

But he shugged all that off and nodded at Kushina. She didn't need to worry about her kid like that, at least not now. 

They finished up outside and moved onto cooking dinner. Surprisingly, Minato came home while they were cooking, though it was almost ready. Apparently he was allowed to take off early due to Kushina being pregnant. It wasn't always guaranteed, but today's workload was light. 

At dinner, they talked about about the kid, all the things they were excited about, then a little bit about business. The treaties were holding tight, the Kazekage's wife was pregnant with their third child and due next month, and the Tsuchikage was regularly sending messenger birds about setting up a meeting with Minato, as they haven't met yet. 

Like last time, the dinner was good and Kakashi enjoyed himself. 

Except he left feeling weird. He longed to go back and stay. The thought of going back to his empty apartment brought up feelings of loneliness. Though he was unwilling to intrude on Kushina and Minato any further. So instead he went to hike the Hokage rock to go sit up there. 

However, when he got to the good peak on the Sandaime's head, he was surprised to see Gai already sitting there, hugging his knees. It was too late to turn back when Gai turned his head at Kakashi's arrival. It was worrying when all Gai offered was a nod instead of his usual intense greeting. 

With a deep breath, Kakashi figured now was a good enough time as any to bridge the gap in their friendship. 

When Kakashi sat down next to him, they were both quiet for a while. Maybe Gai was stuck on what to say to him like Kakashi was or he didn't feel like starting. Finally, he settled on a neutral enough question. 

"What are you doing out here?" 

With a deep sigh, Gai answered, "I didn't feel like being at home." 

Kakashi nodded, "I know what that's like." 

After a beat, Gai looked at him, tears forming in his eyes, "It's the first time I wasn't able to spend my birthday with my father."

Immediately, Kakashi was struck with sympathy and guilt. Gai's birthday was a couple of days ago and it slipped his mind. Gingerly, he set a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry. It's really not easy." 

Gai took that as a invitation to start fully sobbing into his knees. Kakashi moved closer to him, trying not to feel awkward as he laid his arm across Gai's shoulders. Kakashi really wasn't the type to readily embrace whoever, not like Gai was. But his friend was distraught, he could at least try a little. This will be his fourth year without his own father celebrating his birthday. Granted, Sakumo was there for Kakashi's birthday the year he passed but the depression he had fallen into was already taking it's toll. 

Kakashi remembers everyone wishing him well, Rin and Gai bought him books, Obito even wished him well. But he dreaded going home. All his father did was work around the house, not speak to him and then go to bed, leaving Kakashi to cook and train by himself. A deep part of him hoped that maybe his dad would do something for him, but he was left with disappointment when he finally got home and his father was already in bed for the night. The stupid small hopeful part of him thought that maybe today just wasn't a good day, maybe some other time they would do something. It never happened. Sakumo was dead a month later. 

"Are you crying?" 

Kakashi belatedly realized this, but his throat was indeed scratchy and tears were burning at his eyes from the memory. He scrubbed them away with his other arm. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About your dad?" Gai asked, wiping away his own tears.

Kakashi nodded, but didn't elaborate. "Sorry I haven't been around. There's a reason why, but it's a secret." He said instead. 

"It's fine." Gai shrugged, looking away. "Asuma and Kurenai took me out to dango. Is it a secret mission?"

Kakashi thought about it and figured that no, he couldn't say anything about Rin, but he could at least say his other secret, "Minato-sensei assigned me to Black Ops."

"Wow!" Gai exclaimed, but Kakashi quickly shushed him. Gai had the sense to look sheepish, but still he was excited, "That's so cool!" 

"I guess." Kakashi shrugged. "It's been keeping me busy. I really am sorry for missing your birthday. Maybe we could go fishing soon or something." He knew Minato would let him have one day to himself at least. There was a small rotation of ANBU protecting Kushina at all times, he could arrange one of them to take over for a bit.

This promise got Gai really excited a he sprang up, "You mean like a fishing challenge!?" 

"Uh, sure. If you want." Kakashi said, knowing one thing Gai wanted nothing more than to have a good challenge with him. "Next week, on Monday?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Gai agreed enthusiastically. It was good to see him back to his usual self. It didn't last long though as his friend grew serious and sat back down. "Kakashi, the others and I are really worried about you. Are you okay? You said you've been busy, but it seems like it's more than that."

Kakashi sighed heavily, too tired to avoid the subject, "I won't lie to you, it hasn't been easy. But I'm fine now. ANBU keeps me distracted." 

Gai didn't seem particularly convinced, but he didn't push, "If you say so."

It would have to do for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a lying liar who lies I rewatched the episode of Kakashi and Minato talking about Kushina being a Jinchuriki, so he knew and he did actually look concerned. I will be writing more on that in the next chapter! It's gonna be fucking sad!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not very good with names but I think I did okay. I'm trying to avoid creating too many original characters. 
> 
> Some curious things I probably won't work more into or needs explainging: 
> 
> The mission Rin and Kakashi were on was in fact for intel but we're never told why. To me, they were probably investigating Yagura since he was going to be the next Mizukage and he was so young.
> 
> Kakashi probably didn't know that Kushina was a Jinchuriki, otherwise he probably would have been more worried during the Kyuubi attack in canon. So that was really just a plot need and something to have fun with. 
> 
> As usual, the canon is contradictory with its own writing, so I hope I explained Gerotama as best as I could.
> 
> Also sorry, I didn't intend for this to be a WIP but I accidentally posted this chapter instead of pushing the edit button. This will probably motivate me to continue to write though! 
> 
> I'll address more in the next chapter. Feel free to comment!


End file.
